Maybe it's gone now (?), but I think Presence posted this youtube link some time ago in a thread about great post-1980 performances by Zep members. Maybe my memory is off, though.

Nice bass playing, but the reaction to Diamanda's vocal work was rather mixed. Personally, to me she sounds like Yoko Ono with great range and musical training ... gone very wrong. She would have been outstanding for an Indian tribe on the battlefield, though.

I checked that Youtube video out last week late at night and I'm glad that I was listening to it through headphones. I think that the vocals would have woken up the household. +1 to JPJ for crossing boundaries into the unknown however -100000 to Diamanda Galas for freaking me the fuck out.

I agree........and I'm well trained at being able to isolate intruments audibly........but a train wreck is a train wreck and I just can't tune that out. JPJ's bass playing is badass no doubt....but at what cost to enjoy it? My musical tastes are vast but do have definite boarders. Her vocals are like listening to King Crimson's Larks' Tongues in Aspic ....but all the players are out of tune and out of time.

among other musical directions & projects she's known for having worked with avant garde modern composers such as Iannis Xenakis (fantastic and inspirational, but not exactly easy listening). so it's not surprising that a segment of rock-pop fans (e.g. those whose attention was brought in by the JPJ collaboration) might have difficulty accomodating to this artist's music â€” which asks a lot of the audience â€” at first... however the rewards can be considerable if one is open minded/eared and up to it. (i.e. perhaps also leading to more than-beyond just the relatively brief JPJ/GalÃ¡s collaboration all by itself...)

I'm very open minded/eared. I have a very broad listening range and enjoy a bit of everything (I dislike labels, music is music to me). I did watch that clip (thank you for posting it), and while I found it interesting, I just don't find very much of her style pleasing to my ears in any fashion.

Ever since being introduced to her, right or wrong Iâ€™ve always thought of her as a performance artist, if you know what I mean. Sheâ€™s seems a very forceful personality, and isnâ€™t afraid of letting that shine in her stage work. Bravo for her.

But that clip from the Night Music â€¦ the first part seems an accompanied narrative, and the second part seems like oversung, overplayed â€“ over the top â€“ blues. Not terribly enjoyable, and certainly not avant garde (at least the way I think of it). On the plus side, sheâ€™s never seemed pretentious, which is more than can be said for many so-called avant garde artists.

IMO, if you like her, you might enjoy her music; failing that, at best sheâ€™s an acquired taste.

I'm very open minded/eared. I have a very broad listening range and enjoy a bit of everything (I dislike labels, music is music to me). I did watch that clip (thank you for posting it), and while I found it interesting, I just don't find very much of her style pleasing to my ears in any fashion.

don't worry there are no attempts here to 'convince' anyone here of anything. I do agree that some of her music certainly is an 'acquired taste' and, like a lot of music out there, wouldn't work for the kind of, let's say more 'casual' listening that we might utilize our own more familiar rock/(____) for. The music of (jazz pianist) Cecil Taylor would be an example of the kind of music that this listener, for one, needs preparation in order to hear & appreciate fully; it's not just to throw on casually or for light listening.

I would disagree, however with attempts to categorize DG only/narrowly as a 'performance artist'; for just one example of musical credentials, her voice has a three-and-a-half octave range (bit beyond Yoko Ono). One thing this listener finds interesting about her vocal style is the 'ululation' which comes from Middle East/Mediterranean/gypsy (and other) music(s)... and a technique which Robert Plant, for one example, has dabbled in... Many of her musical projects have typically been oriented around operatic-style orchestrations, or (topical) song cycles (e.g. re-interpretation of blues & gospel on 1992's The Singer).

but what is more likely important is broadening the scope, a bit, of discussion/appreciation/'checking out' of her work from watching a YouTube clip here & there (whether or not JPJ was involved). Part of John Paul Jones', for example, even wanting to work on an album/music project together with her was his own admiration of her for years. (Obviously also, not all of us fans can possibly be interested in or have time for various music/artists that John Paul or any of our other rock idols might be interested in or inspired by..........)

(as chs ^^suggested, one route to awareness of the music might be greater familiarity with the person.) Some will not be interested in pursuing further than what has already been posted above on thread (or the existing 1994 JPJ collaboration album). For those who are, and might want to browse their local library or record store here's her own web page and Wikipedia biography:

I take it a lot of you posting in this thread have never heard the "Sporting Life" album that JPJ and Diamanda recorded. I loved the album although I couldn't listen to it everyday. JPJ's bass tone on that album is unbelievably massive and the drummer is bad ass too. Awesome stuff.

I saw them on the Sporting Life tour at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, Michigan and was blown away by the show. I actually liked it better than Page's "Outrider" show and Plant's solo shows that I've seen. The encore of "Communication Breakdown" was great too.

Last edited by jmoog on Sun Nov 16, 2008 1:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I guess I'm in the minority because I loved this album! I think you have to appreciate her "vocal gymnastics"... I usually find myself laughing through it because it's just so out there. And Jonesy laid down some fantastic grooves on this album. They're so good, they didn't need support from a guitar anywhere on the album.

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